The default: no automatic survivorship
North Carolina's starting rule, codified at N.C.G.S. § 41-2, abolishes automatic survivorship in joint tenancy: when a co-owner dies, their share doesn't pass to the surviving owner — it descends to their own heirs or under their will, exactly as it would under a tenancy in common. The statute makes one exception: if the instrument creating the joint tenancy expressly provides for a right of survivorship, that share does pass to the survivor instead, and no separate document is needed to establish it once that language is there.
The exception: a deed to a married couple
Married couples get a very different default. Under § 39-13.3, a conveyance of real property to two people who are married to each other automatically vests title as tenancy by the entirety — unless the deed expressly says something different. Entirety property carries built-in survivorship: when one spouse dies, the survivor becomes sole owner by operation of law, with no probate filing required for that asset.
Entirety property also has extra protection during life
Tenancy by the entirety isn't just about what happens at death. Under § 39-13.6, neither spouse can sell, lease, mortgage, or otherwise encumber the property without the other spouse's written joinder — unlike an ordinary joint tenant, who can generally sever their own interest by recording a transfer without the co-owner's consent. This also generally shields the property from the separate creditors of just one spouse, since a creditor collecting from only one spouse typically can't reach entirety property at all.
Divorce ends the special protection
Tenancy by the entirety depends on the marriage. If the couple divorces, the property converts to a tenancy in common — no more automatic survivorship, and no more protection from either spouse's individual creditors. A former spouse who wants survivorship restored after divorce needs a new deed expressly creating it.
A 120-hour survival rule can still matter
Even where survivorship applies — whether through tenancy by the entirety or an expressly worded joint tenancy — North Carolina generally requires the survivor to outlive the other owner by at least 120 hours for survivorship to vest cleanly. In a close-timing death, that rule can change who actually ends up owning the property, which is worth flagging to whoever is handling the estate rather than assuming survivorship automatically applies.
No deed workaround replaces this
Because North Carolina has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate, entirety and expressly worded survivorship deeds are the two main tools for keeping a house out of probate without a trust. See our explanation of why North Carolina has no TOD deed for the alternatives that do exist.